


Danganronpa: Despair Concurrent

by revui



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Gen, I'm making this sound worse than it actually is, Implied/Referenced Torture, Nonbinary Character, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character Death(s), Trans Female Character, Violence, a lot of bad stuff, canon typical random explosions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29002605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revui/pseuds/revui
Summary: An unprecedented influx of new Ultimate students has led Hope's Peak Academy to open up a second branch of their prestigious school. This new Hope's Peak is receiving students from all over the globe. Mercy Amastacia, the Ultimate Logician, is one such student. She's gathered with the world's best and brightest youths, beacons of hope for the entire world.As she arrives for her first day, however, she finds that the academy is oddly empty. As she searches for all the other students, things just continue to get stranger.---This is a fan project. Some canon lore will be changed or ignored. All characters are original. It is its own work and is mostly unrelated to Danganronpa save for the existence of Ultimates, Hope's Peak, and Monokuma. This disclaimer sounds too formal. Anyway, thanks for reading and stuff! It's my first time tackling such a large project, and I do hope to entertain you with one of the most horribly depressing things I'll ever write. Thanks again!- revui
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	1. Prologue - It'll Be a Long Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercy arrives at this new academy, makes some new friends, and nothing unusual happens.

It would make the most sense to begin by explaining what you are about to read, correct? I suppose I’ll just have to waste a few moments bringing you all up to speed.

My name is Mercy Amastacia, the Ultimate Logician. But you already knew that, correct? You should’ve. It’s rather basic information. I have been accepted into an American branch of Hope’s Peak Academy. You see, we Ultimates are understandably extraordinary, but we’ve recently seen an unprecedented influx of teenagers being deemed worthy of Ultimate status. I am not trying to insinuate foul play or that the Ultimate Initiative is lowering its standards. But I might be.

Either way, I was scouted for this prestigious academy. It certainly wasn’t surprising. The moment I heard it was being constructed in our country, I was confident in my own selection. I had actually declined an invitation from the Japanese branch because I felt it would be too bothersome to have to move all the way over there. When I told this to others, they looked at me as though I’d completely lost my mind, but I didn’t believe I would gain all too much from attending, so I thought it was the most logical decision.

Now, it is much more conveniently located, so I figured I may as well indulge in it. Perhaps it could provide an interesting experience.

I'd arrived at the gate at 8 AM, promptly at the time I was requested to meet in the entrance hall. No earlier and no later. Showing up early is nice in theory, but it's really not worth the trouble; I always arrive perfectly on-time. I stepped through the gate, sending a half-hearted wave to my parents without looking back at them. I'd be seeing them in the evening, anyway.

I strode down the pathway, walked up the stairs, and pushed open the large, mahogany doors. What I was greeted with was an overwhelming amount of complete nothingness.

The place truly was grand. High ceilings, red marble columns, and white granite flooring. Off on one of the walls was a bulletin board with a few things posted to it. Every square inch of the room seemed so meticulously polished that I nearly felt pity for the janitors. The academy was as overly-luxurious as it was devoid of other living beings. I didn't pay any attention to it.

Of course, I found it hard to believe I was the only person who'd arrived, and the fact that there weren't any other students or teachers was odd, but there was no reason to worry about it. I'd memorized the layout of Hope's Peak Academy, so I simply had to make my way to the classrooms in search of another person.

I walked in, the door swinging shut behind me. The slam echoed, deafening in the silence of the entrance hall. I stepped inside with little hesitation, glancing at one of the columns as I passed it. I paused momentarily, reaching out and brushing its surface.

Polished, smooth, without a single speck of dirt on my hand as I pulled it away.

_How pretentious._

It is not that I would have preferred to receive my education in a place of filth. The cleanliness of a school building does impact one's ability to learn, and I certainly didn't desire to have my mind impeded by something so trivial. But the level with which they maintained the building only managed to make me feel even less impressed with it. As if the whole thing was simply for show.

I scoffed. The grandeur of the school was entirely unnecessary for the sake of fostering our talents. We could be perfectly content with a normal building of average size. If anything, the extensive funding available to the school should be used for its intended purpose—researching Ultimates.

I supposed that I had no say in what the academy chose to spend its money on, so I continued. The classrooms weren't far from the entrance hall, so I passed through the room without paying any more attention to it. I reached for the handle to the glass doors that led into the hallway, but just as I grasped it, all of the lights shut off.

I felt a slight chill running down my back, causing my entire body to stiffen, but I forced my muscles to relax. I'd never been fond of the darkness, and while the events were certainly out of the ordinary, it was far from warranting a panicked reaction.

I simply pushed the door open and began to take cautious steps forward. I made sure to feel in front of me with my foot so I wouldn't find myself walking directly into a wall. I'm not too bothered by first impressions, but I would prefer to avoid slamming face-first into a solid wall.

I hardly made it a few steps before I felt a hand on my shoulder. As soon as I registered the contact, I grabbed the person's wrist and wrenched their arm off my shoulder, hearing a brief yelp of surprise, likely from the person who'd grabbed me. I felt their arm twisting in my grasp before being pulled free.

"You sure have a warm way of welcoming new friends, huh?" This nameless figure said. Their voice was dry and sarcastic, decidedly feminine, reminding me a bit of myself.

"Because everyone knows friendly encounters always start with grabbing a person's shoulder without saying a single word," I replied quickly. I stared forward in the direction I presumed the voice was coming from, although neither of us could see. "Don't touch me," I added hastily.

Normally, our eyes would have adjusted, but it seemed there were absolutely no light sources in the halls. Not even a window?

The strangest thing to me was that the lights were still off. The school clearly had wealth to spare—they couldn't have bought a generator in case of emergencies? The lack of forethought almost made me scoff.

However, the stranger and I still had business to attend to. "It's not as if my intention was to startle you, though," they fired back, sounding vaguely annoyed. "I just knew there was someone out here so I decided to try and look, and I accidentally grabbed you while trying to feel my way around."

"Oh, yes, you just happened to sneak up on me in complete silence, a purely coincidental occurrence despite the fact that this is the most echoey hallway I have ever encountered. That sounds perfectly plausible." I began to walk forward, listening to the sound of my footsteps as they reverberated throughout what felt like the entire building.

"You are a very untrusting individual, aren't you? I can't imagine you're much fun to be around," they snarked.

"I would believe the same about you since you are an incredibly suspicious person. Either way, this discussion is going nowhere and it's best we try to analyze the issue at hand, being the fact that we are currently in a completely dark building and, as far as I can tell, there are no other people. This is at least a vaguely alarming situation for most—"

My statement was cut off as the lights suddenly flickered back on. Strangely, it was not the regular lights I had seen moments before. Instead, the lights were a dim, washed-out shade of red. After blinking away the brief shock of the new lighting, getting my bearings once more, I found myself face-to-face with the stranger.

She was most definitely female now that I could physically view her. My eyes flicked over her appearance quickly. We were about the same height—I was 170 centimeters, she couldn't have been more than a couple centimeters taller. Black hair down to her waist, mostly unkempt, brushed over her left eye—the visible one was green, and it seemed like she was giving me the same once-over on me as I was to her. For how messy her hair was, her outfit was certainly well put-together. Red blazer trimmed with black, navy blue tie—or maybe it was black as well, it was difficult to tell in the odd lighting. Golden pin on her lapel, probably her middle school's logo.

I'd researched everyone else who'd be attending, but I couldn't recall seeing her anywhere. She must have been one of the more low-key Ultimate students.

"Are you Mercy Amasacia?" The stranger asked. This should have been alarming, but I knew it was probable that she'd researched everyone as I had. I wasn't the most popular of all the students, but I was known enough to be on the radar of anyone looking for information.

"No. _Amastacia_. There's a T," I corrected sharply. "Are you going to introduce yourself? You clearly already know who I am."

The stranger shrugged. "I am something of a fan of yours. Intelligence tends to be in short supply," she said lightly. "My name is Raven de Marre. I'm called the Ultimate Liar."

The moment she said that, I stepped away from her. It's not that I was intimidated or frightened in some way. If anything, I felt disgusted. There was a sour taste in the back of my throat. "A fan of mine?" I asked, trying to avoid sounding as revolted as I felt.

Raven watched me, her head cocked to the side. She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Is that a problem?" She asked, her tone carefully devoid of any emotion.

"Yes," I replied bluntly.

Raven blinked, and we stared into each other's eyes in complete silence. I could tell we were both trying to pick each other apart, but there was nothing I could find in her expression. I just hoped mine was the same. "Either way," I said, turning away from her and glancing around the oddly-lit halls, "We need to find the other students. Would you happen to know where they are?"

"Why do you want to know?" Raven asked, seeming to deflect the question purely on instinct. "Well... no, I don't. I only knew you were here because I heard your footsteps."

"Great," I said flatly. "Since you won't be of any use, that means you can leave me alone."

Raven didn't give that statement a verbal response, she just shrugged and whirled around to walk away. If I'd been standing any closer, I would've been smacked in the face with her mess of black hair. I watched as she walked calmly over to the hall leading right, rounding the corner and disappearing from sight. I waited a few moments to hear her steps echoing farther away from me before turning and walking to the left.

Ah, are you a bit confused about my hostility? Well, I should make one fact clear before we proceed with our lovely little story.

I _hate_ liars.

The idea of lying, in and of itself, is not what aggravates me. I can tolerate it. But liars are some of the worst people I've ever encountered. There is no point in holding a conversation when all they do is deflect, mislead, and deceive. If you do not speak in a straightforward manner, any discussion is ultimately pointless. We cannot get anywhere by beating around the bush.

I value information with the same attitude in which one would value a childhood toy. Knowledge helps me sleep at night, like a teddy bear. A teddy bear made of algebra and astrophysics.

Some do not understand this. But if there is one thing that I wish for you to understand, it is this—to allow yourself to fall into a lie is to ruin your mind's integrity. The more you believe, the less you think.

Some may disagree. I do not mind.

However, I was very much minding something else at the moment. As I'd continued my way down the hall to the left, I had suddenly become incredibly aware of what sounded like a shouting match unfolding. I began to walk faster, sighing as quietly as I could. The hallways were surprisingly long and barren.

Finally, I found the source of the noise—the boys' bathroom.

_"Just- just let me get a look at it! Please? Please?!"_

_"N- no! I- I already said t- to sto—hey! St- st- stop touching my hair!"_

Again, I sighed, listlessly reaching for the door handle. I straightened my posture and practically threw the door open. "Excuse me!" I shouted, immediately putting an end to whatever had been going on.

The two boys froze in their position. The taller one was practically quivering in fear with a stricken expression, black hair tied back in a braid. The shorter one was holding the end of that braid, having a mess of fluffy, teal-colored hair poking out from underneath a black beanie. They'd both now turned to stare at me, and my commanding presence immediately deflated into one of vague disappointment as I stared back.

The taller boy took the chance to slip away, freeing his hair from the other boy's grasp. He clutched his braid protectively, amber eyes darting between me and the teal-haired kid, who seemed cheerful and calm despite the circumstances.

I arched my eyebrow. "Care to explain what's going on?"

The two boys looked back and forth in silence for a few moments, providing no answers. "Uh... no, apparently," the teal-haired boy said, giggling slightly afterward.

The taller one, still casting wary glances at both of us, said, "I- i- it's... fine. I just overreacted," he muttered sheepishly. "D- don't worry about it, dude!" He said, managing a meek-looking smile at me. "I'm just gonna go, you can... do your business."

I blinked. "...dude?"

"I mean, yeah," he said casually. "You a- are a... dude, right? I... oh. Oh my god." His face immediately began to turn red. "Oh my _god!_ I am _so sorry!"_ He shouted, covering his face and bowing his head as he continued to shake and mutter apologies over and over.

I watched him calmly. "There's really no need to get so worked up, this happens quite often," I said quietly. I hadn't been taking hormones for very long, so while I didn't look quite as masculine as I used to, it was still quite easy to get confused if you didn't know me or only looked briefly.

His incessant apologies quieted a bit, but he still refused to look me in the eye, his face buried in his hands.

The other boy, meanwhile, had seemed barely fazed by the events, still smiling. He looked over at me. "Do you dye your hair blonde, or is it natural?" He asked casually. "I could totally dye your hair. Blonde looks weird on you. How about brown? Maybe a dark blue? You should probably grow out your hair first, though. It looks weird when you have it short. Actually, you just kinda look weird in general," he commented, still keeping up a cheerful expression.

For what felt like the hundredth time that day, I sighed deeply. If this interaction was any representation of how the entire school year would be going, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep myself from killing someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit short for a prologue, but don't worry! There is still an ungodly amount of prologue left to write.
> 
> I'll try to get the chapters longer from here on out.


	2. Prologue - New People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More new faces are beginning to pop up, each just as clueless about the circumstances as the last. Things are just getting stranger and stranger, and Mercy's search for answers isn't helping to clear anything up.

Once the taller boy had managed to calm himself down again, introductions began.

The teal-haired one started first. "I'm Pallas Herald, the Ultimate Couturier! I was, uh... um..." In an instant, it seemed he completely switched demeanors. "Uh... I- I- that was probably... was I too rude?" He asked, his expression suddenly full of concern. "Um... uh... th- that's my bad, sorry."

"No offense taken," I said carefully. "Mercy Amastacia, Ultimate Logician. So... you make clothes?" I didn't recognize Pallas from the forums on Hope's Peak Academy, although I wasn't too interested in clothing, so I probably would've skipped over him anyway.

"I do more than just make clothes!" He said brightly. "I really like designing clothing, sure, and I'm good at making it, too, but what I really love is hairstyling!" He explained. "That's why I was... uh..." His blue eyes drifted over to the taller boy. "Uh... sorry for grabbing your hair," Pallas said, wringing his hands nervously. "I think I just get... too excited, I guess. Uh... I do think your hair has a nice texture, though!"

Before I could even move, he was in front of me, petting my hair. I noticed that he was only a couple of centimeters shorter than me, although that was hardly relevant to the situation. "And yours is very silky... what products do you use? Oh! You have a little thingy!" He poked a strand of hair that stuck up from the rest, smiling in delight. I'd never been able to figure out why that hair was there and no amount of styling could ever get the stupid thing to settle down flat with the rest of my hair. As far as I could remember, it had been there ever since I'd been about elementary school age, and I'd grown extremely attached to it despite how annoying it was.

I grabbed his wrist, a bit harsher than I intended, but he got the idea and pulled his hand away immediately, mumbling another apology. "It's... fine. Just don't touch me," I said in response.

I narrowed my eyes. I was getting quite a few mixed signals from this kid, but I barely even had time to think about that before he immediately began to focus on my uniform. He grabbed the lapel of my light gray blazer, running his fingers across the material. "Very soft... you must've gone to a very wealthy school if they used material like this!" Pallas remarked in amazement.

"Ah... well, this was actually custom-made. The original fabric was... too rough," I explained quietly, glancing away.

"Sensitive skin, huh? Well, I guess this uniform is okay from a design standpoint... I probably could've made something better," he commented.

I didn't doubt that for a moment, considering his talent. Looking at his clothes, I wondered if it was all handmade. A light blue dress shirt underneath a white and gray argyle-patterned sweater vest, and a dark blue jacket overtop. The hood had white fur on the edges, and it seemed very comfortable. Did it look good? Absolutely. Did it also look like it could cause heatstroke? Yes, and I was pondering whether he knew that. A leather bag hung from his shoulders, and I could see some colorful fabric poking out of it.

Meanwhile, Pallas had turned his attention to the black blouse I had underneath the blazer. Specifically, he was scrutinizing the red bow hanging from the collar. He seemed extremely affronted by its existence. He frowned and shook his head. "Those people had no idea what they were doing," he muttered, scowling at the ribbon. In an instant, he untied my bow and tucked it away into the pocket of his jeans.

"Uh... pardon?" I raised an eyebrow, trying to ask what he was doing, but then he pulled a dark blue ribbon from the pocket of his backpack. He threaded it through my collar and tied a neat bow with it, patting the ribbon once he finished with a satisfied smile.

I blinked, looking down at it. "Why?" I wasn't upset, just confused.

"Well, your eyes are gray," he pointed out, acting as if that explained everything. I must have looked just as lost as I felt, so Pallas huffed, crossing his arms. "Obviously, blue and gray go together _much_ better than red and gray. Red also gives off the impression of a more intense personality, since that's what we usually associate the color with, but you're way too calm. It just didn't feel right, y'know?" He scowled. "This is why school uniforms suck. They have _no idea_ how to match the colors to the students. They just assume, _'oh, everything looks great on everyone, let's just slap whatever we want together and call it an outfit.'_ That stuff seriously gets on my nerves." As he spoke, he sounded genuinely bitter. School uniforms were clearly a sore subject for him.

"Ah. Well... thank you," I said, looking down at the new bow. Admittedly, I hadn't ever been one to pay too much attention to what I wore so long as I didn't look like I'd fallen out of an H&M dumpster, but I wisely kept that to myself considering the company.

"Oh, it was no big deal," Pallas said proudly. "I just... uh..." In the span of about half a second, I watched as his confidence immediately shriveled up again. "I probably should've... um..." He squirmed uncomfortably.

"There's no reason to apologize," I said flatly. "I already thanked you."

He just nodded, continuing to fiddle with his fingers. He turned and scurried back over to the tall boy, who just responded by looking confusing and awkwardly patting Pallas on the head. He'd been silent the entire time, watching the interaction between us closely while patiently waiting for his turn.

"I- it's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Asher Brandt—most people just call me Ashe. I'm... uh, I'm the Ultimate Ophiologist, wh- which is the study—"

"Of snakes," I finished. "Yes, I'm aware."

Asher looked utterly dumbfounded for a moment before his face split into an overexcited grin. "Really!? You know what ophiology is!?" He shouted in amazement. Asher stared at me with such admiration that I pondered if he'd mistaken me for God. Not that I was complaining.

"D- d- do you like ophiology? You... you don't think it's creepy?!" He was shaking so much that I worried he'd fade out of existence as all of the molecules in his body vibrated apart. I began to look at his outfit, which now made a lot more sense considering his talent. I could see a golden yellow shirt poking out from underneath a zipped-up, light green scale-patterned jacket. I also noticed he had a green ribbon at the end of his braid instead of a regular band and a strangely-patterned scarf around his neck.

As it turned out, that scarf was not a scarf, which I promptly realized when it hissed at me.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Asher barely seemed bothered by the snake around his neck. He just casually pulled it off, and I watched as it slithered around his arm and rested there with Asher treating it like the most natural thing in the world. "He's a _Lampropeltis triangulum_ —he's a milk- milk snake. His name is Sir Milkington III. My little sister named him for me," he explained excitedly. "I c- c- call him Sir Milk most of the time, or just Milk."

"Ah, Sir Milk," I replied, nodding. "I didn't know that snakes could be knighted."

Asher responded with a polite laugh, but I wasn't joking.

Pallas was practically nose-to-nose with Sir Milk in an instant. "I sometimes looked to snakes when I needed inspiration. There are some really pretty patterns and colors out there." He reached out and gently touched Sir Milk, admiring the scales.

I could tell the two were about to derail the interaction completely, so I held up my hand to silence them. "Before we discuss any further, I feel like we must address our current circumstances."

The two both turned to me again as I continued.

"The situation we are in is undoubtedly strange. We were asked to meet in the entrance hall at 8 AM—" Before I could get another word out, both of them immediately protested.

"Eight? The time was 7:45," Asher said.

"Yeah—wait, 7:45? I had to get here at 7:20!" Pallas glanced back and forth between Asher and me.

I blinked. "Well... this is puzzling."

_We were all given different times to arrive for the meeting in the entrance hall, but why would they do that?_

"Well, one mystery at a time. Perhaps we should focus on the brief blackout that just occurred," I offered.

To my dismay, the two only looked more confused.

"W- we- we've been in here for a couple of minutes, I guess we missed that," Asher speculated.

_But... that doesn't make any sense, does it? You can't just miss a blackout. That would mean someone purposely tampered with only the hallway lights. This bathroom is lit normally, after all, so it does make logical sense for the blackout to only have occurred in the halls. But what even happened to the lights? For the love of God, why are they red? Is this a bad thriller novel?_

I must have looked frustrated because Asher was looking at me with evident concern. "Mercy? I- I know this situation is a bit odd, but if we gather everyone, maybe we can figure out what's going on," he offered.

"Ah, speaking of which—" Pallas stepped outside the bathroom, glancing around the red-lit halls. "God, that's creepy—uh, do you think there might be some people who haven't shown up yet? Since we were all given different times to arrive."

"I considered that," I said. "If that situation arises, it would be best for us to simply gather everyone we can find and wait in the entrance hall for anyone else so we can all figure out our situation together," I explained. "There are supposed to be sixteen of us, correct?"

Both of them nodded.

"Well, it may take a while for us to find anyone else considering the size of the building, but—"

My statement was cut off as someone suddenly sprinted past the bathroom door and continued down the hallway, shrieking as a second person followed in close pursuit.

Asher and his snake had both perked up, moving together in near-perfect harmony. Meanwhile, Pallas had nearly flown back into the wall with how quickly he leaped away from the entrance to the bathroom. I had simply continued to stand there, a bit cross at my words being immediately contradicted by the powers of the universe.

"Excuse me for just a moment. You two should head to the entrance hall and wait for new students," I said calmly. I exited the bathroom and began to walk after the two as they raced down the hallway at top speed. One of them, the one chasing, started shouting in a language I didn't recognize. The other responded in turn. From their voices, it sounded like one was male and one was female, although I wasn't sure. I didn't feel like giving chase, so instead, I mustered up the most commanding tone that I could and shouted, "Stop!"

My voice rang through the hallway as I began stalking over toward them, and the two had immediately whirled around to face me with guilty expressions, like children who'd just been caught sneaking around after bedtime. They were both taller than me, though, which made their fear rather amusing.

As I got closer, I began to try to see if I recognized either of the two. The one being chased was a fairly tall girl, a mess of brown hair and olive skin as well as a pair of large, round wireframe glasses. The chaser, an even taller boy, was starting to look rather irritated with each glance he sent at the girl. He had rather pale skin and hair dyed bright red. Just as I stopped in front of the two, he reached over and swiftly plucked the glasses off the girl's face, affixing them on his own as he grumbled something in the language from earlier.

In that instant, I nearly stumbled as I realized just who the two were. The glasses swap had thrown me off for a moment, but I would hardly have been an aspiring detective if I didn't recognize the two most famous law enforcement officials to ever enter the Ultimate Initiative.

The girl, who was now giggling as she cast glances at the irritated boy, was Tessera Cetiri, the Ultimate Detective. And the boy, who was glaring so harshly at Tessera that I thought he was about to kill her, was Alastor Helsing, the Ultimate Prosecutor.

I'd read about and admired these two for years. The youngest in their chosen professions, and clearly the best as well. The cases that she'd solved and the criminals he'd put away reached absolutely staggering numbers, and I'd been wanting to study law ever since I first saw an article about one of Tessera's cases.

When I saw that both of them would be attending while looking through the forums about the new Hope's Peak students, I wouldn't say that I got excited, but it was certainly a contributing factor in me accepting my invitation.

Tessera said something in that language with a taunting tone, and I watched as Alastor grabbed Tessera in a chokehold. She laughed maniacally as he strangled her.

They were _nothing_ like I was expecting.

"Um... excuse me, what is that language you're speaking?" I asked. I wanted to at least get a somewhat meaningful interaction.

"Hm?" Alastor released Tessera, who stumbled away, still laughing like she was having the time of her life. He turned to me. "Greek. Were we being annoying? Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, we were kinda busy—do you know a private room we could go to?"

"Why?" Tessera gasped. "Ας κάνουμε σεξ."

"I will beat you so hard that the generations that come before and after you will feel nothing but ceaseless pain," Alastor replied.

I didn't know what she said, but I could guess that it wasn't something good.

"Gosh, you're so _rude_ , Ali! You didn't even introduce yourself!" Tessera whined, ignoring the fact that she hadn't introduced herself, either.

"I already know who you two are," I said.

"Oh, yeah, I know who you are, too!" Tessera replied, which nearly made me flinch. "I mean, after all, I gotta do my research on you weirdos! I don't wanna rub one of you the wrong way and end up being snapped in half, ya get me?"

I crossed my arms, frowning. "You... are the Ultimate Detective, right?"

With that, both Alastor and Tessera immediately looked away, as if searching the red-lit hallways for a change of topic. Alastor casually leaned against the wall, muttering, "Ah, hm... wall."

Tessera mirrored his movements, leaning against the opposite wall as she responded, "Yeah, this is... wall. Good wall."

"Don't get cagey on me, I know that neither of you actually care about the walls. Answer the question."

Tessera reached into her gray clasp jacket, pulling out a phone with a Shrek Wazowski case. I was nearly too distracted by that horrid thing to realize that she was calling someone. Soon, a ring came from Alastor's phone. Or, I say 'ring', but I really mean the beginning melody of "Never Gonna Give You Up". He answered the call, and Tessera said, "Hey, can you give me a good excuse to get out of this conversation?"

Alastor shook his head. "I can't think of anything. Maybe just try dropping dead? I'm sure there's something poisonous in this school that you could off yourself with."

"Great idea." Tessera ended the call and turned back to me. "An urgent matter just came up, I need to go find the janitor's closet so I can inject bleach into my veins. Sorry for the inconvenience." With that, she took off running down the hall, and this time, I didn't even try to stop her.

I just turned to Alastor. "What the hell?" I asked. I could've meant many things.

_What the hell are you two doing? What the hell was up with her not talking about her Ultimate? What the hell is her phone case?_

He shrugged. "Don't ask me. I fuckin' hate her. It's just easier to play along with whatever she's up to and give her what she wants."

I frowned. "You two have a history, then? Why do you have each other's phone numbers if you aren't friends?"

At that, he grinned. "Oh, that? She's tried blocking me dozens of times, but I always find a way. I call her when I know she's doing something important. I mean, it's not like she doesn't do the same exact thing to me, so it's only fair, right?"

There was nothing more I could think of to say on the matter, so I just let it drop. "Ah, I'm familiar with you, as I said before, but do you know who I am?"

He nodded. "Yeah, you're Miss Amastacia, right? The nerd?"

I probably would have made several less-than-friendly remarks if it wasn't for the arrival of yet another person.

She was a short girl, coming from the direction that Tessera had been running in. Braided blonde hair and a black tank top. She was dragging the 'detective' on the floor by her collar. Tessera had a little smirk on her face despite the circumstances, even as the other girl tossed her onto the floor. "One of you forget to take out the fucking trash?" She demanded. Despite the harshness of her words, she didn't _seem_ to mean for that to be a rude remark. It was a rather unconventional greeting, though.

She crossed her arms, and it didn't take long for me to realize her identity. She was known publicly as Mint Eldritch, the Ultimate Thief. She reached into the pocket of her shorts, pulling out a familiar-looking phone and tossing it at Tessera. "There's your freaky-ass phone, by the way. That fucking case is the worst thing I've ever seen in my goddamn life."

Mint was someone I often perceived as a fifth-grader who skimmed Urban Dictionary once and absorbed all of the fun new swear words she found until they became three-quarters of her entire vocabulary.

Alastor frowned. "Hey, why'd you bring her back here? I don't want her. Go put her in the trash can."

Tessera clumsily made her way to her feet, gasping as she did so, glaring at him. "How _dare_ you! Have you no shame? You clearly do not care for the environment! Mint, I request that you deliver me to the recycling bin, unlike what this _heathen_ is asking."

"Oh, so now _I'm_ the heathen?"

While those two began another pointless argument, Mint grabbed me by the arm and began dragging me down the hall, away from the two. "Those fuckers sure are fun to watch, but they're too damn loud. Scaring away all my victims."

"Hm. Speaking of which..."

Mint groaned. " _Fine._ " She pulled out my leather wallet and slapped it into my outstretched hand. In truth, I had no idea what she'd stolen or if she'd taken anything from me at all, but I figured it was likely she had, considering her talent.

I slid it into my pocket again and Mint led me around the corner, where I was met with a long series of different rooms. Each door had a unique design, although I didn't care much to bother with what they were. My attention was mainly dedicated to two other people, who were inspecting the doors.

"Yo, you little shits! Get your asses over here!" Mint shouted. The two immediately snapped to attention and scurried over. Both were fairly short, not even 160 centimeters, but they were still taller than Mint.

The one on the right had straight, black hair cut off just before his shoulders. He was dressed in a black business suit, clearly specially-tailored for his small size, which I found a bit amusing. He also had a watch, although the closer I looked, the more I realized he actually had quite a few watches. Two wristwatches on his right arm, one on his left, and many pocket watches stuffed any place where they'd fit. It seemed as though each watch was set to a different time, too, likely the different timezones. He clutched a small, white notebook to his chest with a pen clipped to the cover.

"Uh, hello," he said softly. "My name's Doku Jihi. I'm the, uh... my talent is kind of boring, sorry..." He mumbled.

"Mercy Amastacia, Ultimate Logician. You're one of the transfer students from Japan, right?" I asked. "I think I recognize you. You're the Ultimate Timekeeper, right?"

His head snapped up in surprise. "Um... yeah. Yeah, that's... me. I, um..."

He trailed off, opening up his notebook to the middle, grabbing the pen, and immediately scribbling something down. I leaned over curiously to see what he was writing, and what I found was what seemed like a very detailed log of different events. The newest entry read:

_8:09 AM - Met Mercy_

"Hm. So you track time outside of your profession, too?" My eyes flicked across the page curiously as I saw several other entries for the day. When he woke up, when he ate, when he arrived at the academy—he kept such detailed records, but the actual role of a timekeeper was just to gather and compile timesheet data. I didn't expect his obsession with time to run so deep, although considering he'd acquired an Ultimate title, it was only logical that he'd do a lot more than what his job demanded. "You were looking at these doors—would you happen to know where they lead?"

Doku just shrugged, at which point the other person picked up the conversation. They had white hair, a white hoodie, white jeans, and white sneakers. It was almost hard to look at them. "We aren't quite sure of what the purposes of these rooms are, but we have tried out each door. None of them have opened, so we believe that we won't be capable of accessing them for quite a while," they responded.

But the way they spoke was so... strange. Their tone, their voice, their word choice... it felt like I was just talking to myself.

"Ah, but I must introduce myself, correct? I do not have a name, but many call me Moneko Tosho, or simply Neko," they continued.

I glanced over at Mint, who just shrugged.

"And regarding my Ultimate talent, I am known as the Ultimate Copycat."

_Ah. That explains it._

"Don't even fucking bother trying to ask. Sometimes I don't think this dumbass even knows jack shit about their own talent," Mint remarked.

"You sayin' I'm fucking stupid?" Neko demanded, immediately switching demeanors.

"Alright, alright, just—please stop talking. We can't get sidetracked. Do any of your three know anything about what's going on?" I asked. "I was discussing the situation with two others earlier and we discovered that we were all requested to arrive at different times, which is certainly strange."

Mint frowned. "Huh. That's sketchy as fuck."

"Oh!" Doku actually seemed fairly pleased with this news. "That's good, that's good. I was worried I'd gotten the time wrong when nobody else was around in the entrance hall. I haven't gotten the time wrong since... three years ago."

"That's impressive," Neko remarked quietly.

"Well, anyway," I said, holding up my hand to silence them. "If nobody here knows anything about the situation, it's best we don't waste time. I suggest that you head to the entrance hall. I directed two other students to go there as well. If Alastor and Tessera are still arguing out there, please have them follow you. More students may be arriving, and we must not allow them to wander aimlessly."

Mint nodded. "Got it. Alright, fuckers, let's head out." She grabbed Doku and Neko by their arms and began leading them down the hall again.

As soon as they disappeared from view, I turned my attention back to the doors. This part of the building was rather spacious, but if I recalled the map layout correctly, the gym was supposed to be located here. I couldn't have remembered wrong, but why would they change something like that?

Looking back and forth, I counted the doors. There were five on the wall to my left, five on the wall to the right, and six on the wall directly across from me. I decided to walk to the first one on the left. The door was lavender, and running across it was a long series of numbers, equations, and vaguely scientific-looking symbols that people would use to imply intelligence of some sort. These dark purple designs seemed less like a sign of intelligence and more like a tasteless attempt of conveying such an idea.

I reached for the door handle to see if they were all truly locked, but my eye was caught by a nameplate to the left of the door.

**ULTIMATE TALENT LAB:**

_**Amastacia** _

I scowled. This tawdry door led to a room that was intended to belong to me?

After a moment, I noted that the first door had been mine. Logically speaking, it seemed as if the doors would be going in alphabetical order based on everyone's last names. I tended to be one of the first in a list ordered in that fashion, so it made sense.

Moving to the second door, I immediately knew something was incredibly strange. All the other doors had designs of some sort, but this one was a plain, black door. I ran my hand over the smooth surface before glancing at the nameplate.

**ULTIMATE TALENT LAB:**

_**Brandt** _

That certainly didn't help me figure out what was going on. Did they just forget to put a design on Asher's door? The idea was amusing but unlikely. If it was true, however, he would certainly have to be an unlucky individual. Checking the doorknob, I found that it was locked as well.

I continued, attempting to open every door and reading every nameplate. Some I recognized, some I didn't. Cetiri, de Marre, Flores, Helsing, Herald, Jihi, Ka'uhane, Leroy, Pomorski—huh. Well, that was strange.

Right after checking the door belonging to the student with the last name Pomorski, I found that the next one had its nameplate scratched out. I quickly went back through the list in my head, and it didn't take long for me to realize that Eldritch was missing.

I wasn't surprised. I mean, the name Mint Eldritch already _sounded_ like an alias just from the start, so this news wasn't at all shocking. I'd have to ask her about it later, though.

I lingered for a moment, staring at the scratched-up nameplate, but I didn't want to stall for long. I continued down the line, seeing as only four doors were left. A door with a gear pattern belonging to a Stathis, a blue snowflake-patterned door assigned to Tashiro, a design of a masquerade mask on the door belonging to Tosho, likely denoting Moneko Tosho, and the last door with a volleyball design on it for someone with the last name Twain. I assumed it likely wasn't Mark Twain, as he wasn't particularly known for playing volleyball or being alive.

I intended to go about double- and triple-checking each door, but then I heard a set of pounding footsteps. Tessera burst into the area, sprinting as fast as humanly possible. "Mercy! Hi! Hey, Mercy!" She shouted, her voice raising about two whole octaves with extremely poorly-masked nervousness as she stopped next to me. "Okay, uh... nothing bad is going on, uh... everything's fine. Y'know. I just wanted to run in. At full speed."

"What happened?" I asked, exasperation seeping into my voice. I didn't even turn to look at her.

Tessera shifted, looking uncomfortable. "So y'know Ashe? Uh... of course you do. Well, you see—"

My head snapped up and I turned to glare at her. "Where is he?"

Tessera stiffened, taking a few paces away from me. "Entrance hall," she replied. "A thing might've... uh, maybe, um, happened, kind of?"

I stopped trying to make sense of her lackluster explanation, taking off down the hallway. She didn't hesitate to follow, keeping pace with me. I silently cursed the ungodly length of the halls, keeping myself calm by counting each of my footsteps. It was nearly working, too, until we made it back to the doors to the entrance hall, where a loud chorus of chaotic screams and shouting had erupted.

I sprinted over even faster than before, grabbed the handle, and threw the door open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the prologue continues...


	3. Prologue - Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The entrance hall has been thrown into chaos, new faces rush to the scene, and—is that a talking teddy bear?

I stared at the scene before me.

Raven was off to the side, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. There was a new person in the group, too, dark-skinned with a mess of black curls. They were flailing around wildly, shouting and screaming incomprehensibly. Doku, Mint, Pallas, Alastor, and Neko were all shouting as well and seemed to be trying to chase after this new person, grabbing at them and at each other. I had no clue why they were doing that, but I didn't care much, as I soon saw the person I was looking for—Asher.

He was on his knees, in the middle of all the chaos. He was the only one who wasn't moving or shouting, just sitting there with an expression of sheer terror. I soon noticed that something was missing—Milk, his pet snake, was nowhere on him.

My gaze drifted back to the new person, and I quickly saw why they were screaming and flailing. Milk had wrapped around their arm and was clinging onto them, probably terrified of being flung across the room. The others were likely trying to grab the snake, but they kept needing to move back because of the way this new student was flailing around and the fact that it didn't seem like any of them were too keen on touching the snake, either.

"GET IT OFF ME! LET GO OF MY ARM!" The stranger screeched, still thrashing around like they were having a seizure.

Raven finally opened her eyes for the sole purpose of rolling them in an exaggerated gesture. "It's just a snake, Jesus Christ," she snapped.

I looked back at Tessera. "This is what you called me for?"

She threw her hands up. "I wasn't paying attention, all I knew was that people were screaming, and then Ali told me to get you since you're the only competent one we've met so far."

I couldn't exactly argue with that statement, but that didn't make this situation any less annoying.

Finally, the stranger managed to get Milk off their arm, and the reptile flew through the air. Asher yelped in alarm, finally stumbling to his feet and trying to race over to catch his pet. However, it seemed like Mint had the same idea, and the two collided before toppling to the ground. The snake sailed through the air before landing—right on Raven's head.

Her eyes snapped open again, and everyone froze for just a moment. Even I was unsure what to do, as I hadn't managed to get much of a read on her and was unsure of her reaction. I didn't have to remain suspended in uncertainty for very long, however, as I was promptly subjected to the most earsplitting screech I had ever heard. It pierced through my eardrums, into my brain, and shook the core of my being, and it felt as if my very soul was being rent asunder.

Not really, but I may as well have been in a studio apartment with a firetruck because I could've sworn that the entire room shook from the sheer volume of Raven's scream. My hands flew over my ears, and everyone else in the room did something of that nature as well (except for Neko, who paused for a moment, glanced at Doku, and then mimicked his reaction).

After she finished, there was a moment of tense quiet that settled over the room.

I broke it quickly. "Raven, would you care to remind me again—who was it who said _'it's just a snake'?_ " I asked, crossing my arms.

She glared at me as Asher reached over and carefully took Milk back, the snake quickly curling around his arm and clearly happy to be back with his friend, a person who wouldn't try to fling him across the room. Raven just shrugged, shakily gathering her composure again. "I dunno. Wasn't that Tessera?"

In response to that, Tessera crossed her arms. "I mean, snakes are pretty cool, but I would _never_ try to get someone to stop being afraid of something, especially when they have reactions like that. It makes for excellent entertainment!"

"Shut it, Cetiri," Alastor snapped. "We all know you're a psychopath, you don't need to remind us."

Tessera gasped overdramatically. " _Psychopath?_ I am a high-functioning sociopath! Do your research!"

The new person, who seemed completely fine now, immediately scrambled over. "Was that a _Sherlock_ reference?" They asked excitedly. They must've had more rebound than a kickball.

Tessera immediately lit up as well, but Alastor walked over and just grabbed her face like a Facehugger alien. "Quiet. Cease. I will break you if you say another word."

With that conversation shut down, I turned to the unnamed student. "That was... quite the introduction," I said, glancing back at Asher, who was coddling his beloved reptile and casting wary glances over at this new person. Pallas was now kneeling at his side and casually patting Asher on the head.

They nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I'm terrified of snakes! I just showed up here and that kid with the braid held the door for me and I didn't notice his snake until I tried to shake his hand and the thing slithered onto my arm."

As I glanced down at their outfit, it didn't take long for me to realize who I was talking to. Underneath an unzipped black hoodie, they were wearing a volleyball uniform, primarily blue with yellow stripes around the collar and down the sides with a pair of blue athletic shorts. On the front of their uniform was the number 11. I couldn't recall their name, as I hadn't cared much to check what it was, but I, at the very least, could recognize the fact that this was the Ultimate Volleyball Player. They were recognized for their talent when they'd just started playing on their middle school team with deals from professional teams already starting to come up, and I could imagine that the Ultimate Initiative was quick to jump at the chance to invite the prodigious athlete to this new Hope's Peak.

They were much shorter than I anticipated.

I watched as they grabbed a navy blue duffel bag off the floor, which I assumed they must have dropped in the midst of the snake-induced panic. They looked around at everyone and smiled. "Well, my name's Serafina Twain, most people just call me Fin, though."

"Why are you short?" I asked bluntly.

"Wh-?" They whirled around to face me. "I'm not short! I'm medium! _Medium size!_ "

"For a volleyball player?" I crossed my arms. "You're extraordinarily tiny."

"Medium!" Fin insisted once more. They briefly paused to take a breath before saying, "I usually play as the libero, anyway. I don't need to be tall for that."

The door opened and a new person suddenly stepped in with a second one lurking just outside the door. The first person was about average height, with light brown skin and black hair tied into a messy bun. "Excuse me, is someone dying, or are you all just screaming for fun?" She asked bluntly. Considering the fact that she was in a prestigious academy, her clothing of choice was rather... bold. Slightly oversized gray sweatpants and a dark brown hoodie, looking like she'd just put on the first things she found when she woke up (or perhaps she didn't get changed at all—the number of wrinkles in her clothes certainly gave off the impression that she'd slept in this outfit). She vaguely reminded me of a disheveled college student or a teacher who was _really_ tired of their job.

I didn't recognize her at all. Fin went about explaining the events that had just transpired, albeit with a lot of exaggeration and some helpful reenactment of their flailing. I elected to ignore that and focus on the second person. This person, I absolutely did recognize. You'd practically have to be deaf and blind to _not_ know who he was, and seeing as I was only half of one of those things, I absolutely recognized him.

He was wearing a cropped, light-purple jacket over a white t-shirt with a black horizontal stripe going down the middle, as well as a pair of high-waisted, light blue jeans. He had neat, blond hair and, probably the most unique part of his appearance, violet irises (a common subject of discourse surrounding him was whether or not those were contacts). Anyone who _didn't_ know him would have to be living underneath a rock.

The jacket was probably what gave it away the most. The light purple marble patterns on it were practically synonymous with his identity at this point, and I didn't need to see it to expect what would be on the back—silver sequins in the shape of a seven-pointed star.

Pallas suddenly stood up, gasping. "Maxi! How come I didn't know you were coming here?" He asked, grinning with delight.

The blond boy, Maxime Leroy, clapped his hands together, smiling. "Pallas! Lovely to see you again!"

The two immediately closed the distance between them, embracing tightly. I supposed it made sense for them to have some sort of history with each other. After all, Maxime was the Ultimate Singer and Pallas the Ultimate Couturier, so to imagine that Pallas made clothes for his performances wasn't a very far-fetched idea. But I wouldn't have anticipated this level of closeness between them. It would've made more sense for their relationship to be strictly for business, right?

I glanced over at the still-unnamed girl, who was engaged in a conversation with Fin. I supposed she'd have to wait, turning my attention back to the pair. "When did you two encounter each other?" I asked curiously.

The two had their arms wrapped around each other as Maxime turned to me, smirking as he flipped his bangs to the side with a small flourish. "Wonderful question, _mademoiselle._ When I first began performing, I wore this jacket simply because I liked it, but it soon became part of my brand, and I realized it would be best if I kept wearing it. So I enlisted my wonderful friend's assistance to make modified versions of it so I'd still be able to wear it while I was growing. We began talking more to each other outside of show business, although we haven't actually seen each other in a while. You all probably know, but I went on tour recently, and a star like me doesn't often have much free time."

"Who are you?" The unnamed girl asked.

His entire demeanor completely crumbled in an instant. "You... ah. You don't know?"

"Nope." She shoved her hands into her hoodie pocket, tilting her head. "Am I supposed to?" She asked, her voice dry and sarcastic.

"Uh... preferably yes?" Maxime said uncertainly. "W- well, but it's of no matter to me in the end! Of course. Verily. Uh. _Oui_."

Pallas looked at the girl. "Well, I don't recognize you, either. Who are you?"

She blinked, shrugging. "I'm Maya."

Raven crossed her arms. "...and?"

"What do you mean, 'and'? I'm Maya."

Raven just sighed and gave up.

Mint picked up the conversation for her. "She means that you're here for a reason, dipshit. You gonna tell us your fucking Ultimate or what?"

"Oh. Right." Maya paused for a moment and pulled out a small, brown bottle from her pocket, proceeding to chug what must've been at least half of it. I leaned in a bit to see the label on the bottle and found that she was drinking...

_Cough... syrup...?_

"Mayalita Flores. Ultimate Doctor. Nice to meet you. Yeah. Anyway. What are you all doing here?" She asked, looking like she couldn't have been any less interested in talking to us. "Nobody was in the entrance hall when I showed up earlier. Are you guys late or did I get the time wrong?"

I decided to be the one to explain this. Tessera and Alastor were busy getting in a petty argument, Doku and Neko were huddled in the corner talking in hushed voices, Pallas and Maxime were in an intense, likely fashion-related discussion, Mint was off to the side with Raven, talking about something I couldn't discern, Asher seemed content sitting on the floor with his snake, and I didn't trust Fin to offer a coherent explanation.

"It seems all of us were given different times to arrive at the entrance hall. Our circumstances are confusing and I would assume that we have yet to encounter any actual staff." As I explained, Fin had wandered off over to Maxime and had swiftly infiltrated his and Pallas's conversation. However, glancing over, I realized I couldn't see Raven anymore.

I glanced around suspiciously, trying to figure out where she'd gone, only for a touch on my left shoulder to startle me back to the present. I smacked the hand away and turned my head to find Raven standing right there, staring at me blankly.

"Do you have a habit of touching people's shoulders with no warning, or do you just enjoy tormenting me?" I demanded. I turned back to Mayalita to continue our conversation only to find her about an inch away from my face.

"You should've seen her from your peripheral... don't tell me..." She muttered something to herself and I heard a few snapping sounds in front of me, although I couldn't see her actually snapping her fingers. "You can't see out of your left eye, can you?" She asked, seeming suddenly much more engaged than before.

Raven blinked, frowned, and then turned away, muttering, "Nevermind." She walked back over to Mint without another word.

"Why does it matter to you, anyway?" I asked, pulling away from Maya. It didn't matter that she was right, I was just annoyed that she'd decided to broadcast this fact to the person that I trusted the least.

She never got a chance to answer, as two more people soon stepped into the room, diverting our attention. The main reason they were so eye-catching?

They were _tall._ Scarily so, especially since we were all fifteen-year-olds here.

If I had to estimate, the shorter of the two was at least 185 centimeters and carrying a guitar case. He had reddish-brown hair and blue eyes, as well as some fairly noticeable peach fuzz on his face. He seemed to have hit puberty much earlier than most (if his height and facial hair were any indications). The other kid must have been at least 190, built like a beanpole. If I had to guess, based on how lanky he was, he probably had a BMI somewhere in the negatives.

As soon as Maya saw that my attention was elsewhere, she dropped the conversation entirely and walked away, although I didn't care to see where she went.

I turned my attention to the two. The taller one was wearing a black and white snowsports jacket and what looked like a pair of leggings, as well as a bag slung over his shoulder. He adjusted his glasses before speaking up. "We heard screaming. Is something wrong, or can we get back to our business?"

I was already tired of being the voice for this group, so I glanced around at the others only to find that, once again, they'd all busied themselves talking to each other. Even Asher had gotten up to start talking to Maxime and Pallas. Despite still seeming a bit nervous, Maxime had a much less obvious (and less deafening) reaction to being near Milk than Raven had.

I sighed and looked back at the two, pointing at Asher. "See that kid's snake? Just figure it out from there. Also, before you ask, we were all given different times to show up. My name's Mercy Amastacia. I'm the Ultimate Logician. None of us know what's happening. Etcetera. Any questions?"

The taller one scratched his head. "I guess not. My name's Osamu Tashiro. This is Oak." He jabbed his thumb over toward the other student, who promptly introduced himself.

"Oakley Pomorski. Nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out, and I shook it briefly. I was just glad that these two seemed to be capable of keeping themselves together. "I'm called the Ultimate Marksman."

I blinked, glancing down at the "guitar case" again, filling in the fact that it definitely didn't contain a guitar. "Oh. You don't say," I remarked absently.

He shrugged. "I don't do much with my talent nowadays other than just target practice."

" _'_ _Nowadays'?_ What did you do before?" I inquired, crossing my arms.

"I was in the military," he explained. "Voluntarily, although that doesn't really make it better. I was good at shooting, they asked if I wanted in, and I agreed. Nothing more than that."

I was somewhat intrigued, but I decided there was something else to focus on. "Excuse me, Osamu?"

"Just Tashiro."

"Tashiro. What's your talent, again?" I asked, noting that he hadn't mentioned it before. I felt that I vaguely recognized him. "You are some sort of athlete, right? I recall hearing your name in relation to the Olympics."

"Mm... kind of." He fiddled with his fingers. "I'm the Ultimate Figure Skater," he muttered.

I frowned. Right, that was it. I recalled seeing some of his performances, although I'd been paying minimal attention during them. However, something bothered me. "Don't you have a partner that you'd perform with often?"

"Mm... yeah. Yu Sakusa. What about them?" He asked, seeming very detached from the conversation.

"As far as I saw, you are both on the same level of skill. Where are they?"

Tashiro just shrugged. "Yeah, we were about the same, but... what do you mean?"

"Why are they not here?" I elaborated, spreading my hands as I gestured to everything in one vague motion. "Why did only you receive the Ultimate title?"

He blinked before smirking. "What's got you so intrigued, huh, shorty?"

That certainly threw me for a loop. Attempting to string together a coherent sentence, all I managed was a vaguely confused, "Sh- shorty?"

"Yeah. You're short." He flicked my hair antenna, looking like a smug cat.

I subconsciously got up on my tiptoes before responding, "I am quite tall by the standards of my gender!"

"Still short to me." Before I could protest, he turned back to Oakley. "Anyway. Should we go back and make sure those two haven't torn each other apart yet?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Oakley replied, his voice low and rumbling like an oncoming storm.

"Wait, excuse me? You know where the last two are?" If I'd counted correctly, there were currently fourteen of us in the entrance hall. Raven, Mint, Moneko, Pallas, Mayalita, Maxime, Tessera, Alastor, Asher, Doku, Tashiro, Fin, Oakley, and me. And there were supposed to be sixteen students, which meant that "those two" would have to be referring to the remaining two. _So Fin must've been the last to arrive, then._

"Would you mind if I came along with you?" I asked quickly, stepping after the two as they'd begun to leave.

Tashiro glanced back, smirking. "You sure? Aren't you scared of what we could do?" He said, clearly casting out bait so I'd get annoyed.

I crossed my arms, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of reacting with anger. "No offense, but I'm not too intimidated by an ice skater."

"I think that says more about your intelligence than it does about me," he called over his shoulder as he followed Oakley out of view.

I huffed as soon as he looked away, probably looking a bit poutier than I would've preferred. However, I nearly jumped out of my skin as a voice to my left said, "You think we should go after them?"

Once I managed to overcome Asher's sudden, heart-attack-inducing appearance, I looked over at the boy, who seemed completely oblivious to what he'd just done. "...yes, yes, we should probably follow. Based on what they said, it seems like the last two students may be quite... difficult to handle. And as much as I trust Tashiro's ability to deliver snide remarks, he doesn't strike me as the type to be able to mediate a fight."

Asher nodded, smiling down at me. He gave me a thumbs up. "I'm sure you can do it, though! You seem pretty levelheaded."

I just nodded and shrugged off his encouragement. I was already confident enough in my abilities, so I didn't require such reassurance. I began walking after the two without a word, and Asher followed me with a small smile.

After a bit of walking, he suddenly paused, his smile slipping as he looked back over his shoulder. "Hey, did you hear that?"

I glanced up at him, frowning. "No. What did you hear?"

He was staring back blankly before shrugging. "It just sounded like... I don't know. Something walking."

I was able to pick up on the fact that he had good hearing, but the statement bothered me. "Some _thing_?"

His brow furrowed. "It didn't sound like a person's footsteps," he clarified, although his voice seemed absent.

He stood there, staring blankly down the hall until I reached over and snapped my fingers in front of his face. He startled out of his brief daze and smiled again. "Well, anyway, let's get going," he said, looking back down at me before walking around the corner.

As we rounded the corner, we saw Oakley and Tashiro hovering outside a classroom door, both looking equally reluctant to enter. A loud crashing sound came from the room, causing all four of us to flinch. Oakley glanced over at us, frowning. "I wouldn't recommend going in there if that's what you're planning."

Asher was the first to step toward the door, grabbing the handle and opening the door. He looked back over his shoulder at us, focusing mostly on the wary expressions of both Tashiro and Oakley as soon as Asher had opened it. "It can't be that bad, I'm sure."

A second later, a chair went flying over Asher's head, narrowly missing him and crashing into the opposite wall, with Oak and Tashiro barely ducking in time.

Asher blinked, seeming unfazed as he turned around to look at the classroom. I briefly pondered how often he'd need to have things fly over his head to be completely unperturbed. He did mention having a younger sister earlier, although a sibling would have to be a special breed of hellspawn for someone to be desensitized to flying chairs.

I filed away that train of thought and sidled up next to him in the doorway, looking at the classroom. The desks and chairs were strewn all over the place, and I doubted the staff had set it up in such a disorderly manner. The two students there seemed to be taking joy in tearing the room apart. The boy seemed about the same height as Asher, with blond hair in a little ponytail. The girl was fairly short with brown skin and the brightest smile I'd ever seen. She leaned down and snatched something off the ground, though I couldn't see what it was. "Found it!" She declared.

The boy grinned at her. "Nice! Toss it to me!"

She complied, throwing it toward the blond boy. All I could see was a small, gray-looking object, maybe a bit smaller than a fingernail. The boy held out his hands to catch it, but I heard the metallic sound of it pinging against the tiled floor. He scrambled to find it again, shoving a desk to the ground in the process before picking it up again. "Alright!"

I watched on, feeling sick of the two already. I was about to ask what they were doing, as both of them had yet to notice us, but then Asher's hand flew to my shoulder. I was about to swat it away (I was incredibly tired of people touching my shoulder), but when I glanced up at him, he looked nervous. "Hey... I'm not the only one who can hear this, right?" He said quietly.

I glanced around and finally picked up on what he was talking about. A strange, staticky sound that sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once. The two students were too busy chattering with each other about something I could barely discern, so I quickly cleared my throat. "Pardon me, could you two shut up? Thanks."

They both turned, looking a bit surprised, but after exchanging glances with each other, they obliged and kept their mouths shut.

The projector on the ceiling suddenly flickered to life, and a strange video began to play on the whiteboard.

The video was mostly static, and I could barely discern the outline at first. The figure began to speak. "Ahem! Testing, testing. Can you hear me?" Their voice was... irritating. High-pitched and incredibly grating against my ears, especially with the ever-present static, but it was the first sign that someone other than us students was currently present. However, their voice did not make me feel very much at ease. It sounded exaggerated, like the kind of thing you'd expect from a cartoon character. Not someone working at Hope's Peak Academy.

Another odd thing I noted was that the voice didn't just sound like it was coming from the video on the projector. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once, just like the static noises from before. I figured that the recording must have been playing in the halls as well. Perhaps it was being broadcast all across the school, seeing as the academy probably anticipated we'd be scattered throughout the building.

"Excuse me, I _said_ , can you hear me?" The voice asked again. There was a brief pause, and then: "Oh, wait, you don't have a way to respond. Nevermind, then!"

I frowned. This... person was incredibly cheerful, but I didn't trust the way they spoke in the slightest. Although, as the image slowly began to become a bit clearer and I could make out the outline better, I began to wonder if this was even a person at all. Whatever it was, it looked far too small and round, cartoonishly so.

The two unnamed students were both staring at the screen with a smile, and Asher looked mostly unperturbed if a bit wary, and Oakley and Tashiro both seemed unbothered by the strange announcement as their expressions remained neutral. I couldn't tell if I was the only one who was as bothered by it as I was or if everyone else was just masking their own worry.

I sighed and turned my attention back to the board.

"Alright! Students of Hope's Peak Academy, I ask that you all please gather in the gymnasium! If you don't know where that is, it's to the right of the entrance hall, past the classrooms and dorm rooms!" The outline of the figure finally began to solidify somewhat, and I realized that it kind of looked like a... teddy bear?

Before I could get a closer look, the video winked out and the static noise ended. I frowned before looking at the two still-smiling students. "Come along with us," I ordered. "Introduce yourselves on the way."

"Alright!" The blond boy shouted, running over. As I looked at him more, I noticed he was wearing a pair of somewhat odd-looking black overalls. There was an overwhelming amount of pockets on them, as well. The girl, meanwhile, was wearing something that looked more suitable for a trip to the beach than the first day at an elite academy, with a red floral-patterned crop top, a white skirt, and sandals, with a woven tote bag and what seemed like a handmade flower crown on her head.

I gestured for everyone to follow me as I began to walk down the hall toward where the gym was supposedly located. The pair caught up to me quickly as the others hung back a bit, and they immediately went about introductions.

"I'm Pele! Pele Ka'uhane! I'm the Ultimate Botanist!" The girl shouted. As she grinned at me, I noticed that it almost looked like she had fangs. Strange.

The boy picked up where she left off. "And I'm Leo Stathis, the Ultimate Inventor!"

That piqued my interest a bit. "And what kinds of things have you invented?" I asked, glancing up at him.

"Weapons!" He responded immediately. "I made the world's smallest gun! And it functions properly, too! The bullets explode on impact!"

I blinked, not expecting that kind of response. "Ah. That's an interesting... thing."

Oakley seemed to be a bit more intrigued by this and sped up a bit to walk next to Leo. I turned my attention away from the two as they began talking, looking to Pele. "What kinds of things have you accomplished?"

"I made new plants!" She replied brightly. "I named it after me, too! So everyone knows it was me who made it 'cause it's me!" She reached into her bag and pulled out a brilliant red flower. It looked somewhat reminiscent of hyacinths, with the flowers blossoming along the side of the stem, but the shapes formed by the petals looked more like roses. "See! It's the Ka'uhane flower! It's mine! I made it!"

I nodded, observing the plant. "Yes, yes, interesting, okay. And... you wouldn't happen to have any questions about this situation?"

"Nope! Why?"

I tilted my head slightly. Either she was incredibly ignorant to the strangeness of our situation or she was used to odd scenarios. Frankly, I didn't care too much, but I was a bit displeased.

At any rate, we soon passed through a long hall lined with doors. There were nameplates next to each, but this time, I didn't look at them. They weren't of any importance to me, anyway. The only thing I was focused on was a set of large, black doors at the end of the hallway. The word "GYMNASIUM" was written above it.

I sped up a bit, intending to get there as quickly as possible, but Asher kept pace with me and held his arm in front of me, stopping me (and, by extension, everyone behind us). He was glaring at the door, and Milk had curled a bit higher up his arm, letting out a hiss.

I glanced up at him, his expression pinched with clear apprehension. "What is it?" I asked, crossing my arms impatiently.

"W- w- we shouldn't be here," he replied, his voice grave.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, tapping my foot against the tiled floor. "It's where we were directed to go."

"No- no, I didn't mean the gym, I meant... I meant _here,_ " he said, gesturing vaguely at everything.

"The... hallway?" Oakley asked, looking dubious.

"No! This school! This- this- this entire place is _wrong!_ " He explained, looking around at all of us as if desperately waiting for one of us to agree.

Nobody spoke, so he quickly continued. "I mean... Hope's Peak Academy is weird, sure. But this... the lights, that video, the times we were given, why are you all acting like this is completely fine?"

I took a few steps to the side, away from him. "There is no cause for alarm yet. It's as you said. Hope's Peak Academy is strange, and we are the first class of this new branch. We have no way of knowing if this isn't just some sort of elaborate prank or odd entrance exam. Either way, it's best if we simply enter the gymnasium instead of fussing."

Asher looked like he wanted to protest, but he just sighed. "I can't possibly be the _only_ person who thinks this is weird, though, right?"

"Trust me, shorty," Tashiro said, poking the tip of Asher's nose. "You're not the only one, but we don't really have a choice either way. We may be Ultimates, but at the end of the day, they're the teachers and we're the students." He glanced down at Milk. "Although it surprises me that you're a good judge of what's weird and what isn't, considering you walk around with that thing wrapped around your arm all the time."

"Do _not_ bring Milk into this," Asher muttered, patting his snake protectively. He turned away with a huff, walking past me on my way to the door, almost looking like he was pouting. He set his hand on the doorknob, glancing back at all of us. "S- s- since you all seem so fine with this, I'm sure that could possibly go wrong here," he muttered spitefully.

Asher opened the door, and then the room exploded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, also commonly known as "The One Where Asher Needs to Stop Opening Doors".


End file.
